To this point, the rivalry has been exclusively about bragging rights. Last December, Major League Soccer awarded Nashville an expansion franchise. Months later, Cincinnati was awarded one.

This is first competitive matchup between the two clubs this season, as first-place FC Cincinnati travels to the Music City to play a third-place Nashville SC team that joined the United Soccer League this season.

"A good team," Cincinnati head coach Alan Koch said of Nashville. "They've obviously spent some money bringing in a good group of players. They've obviously got the same ambitions that we do in terms of moving forward into MLS.

"They've really gelled together very, very quickly and they're starting to get some good results."

The club sits third in the Eastern Conference standings and has only lost once in its last 10 league games. Through 15 games, it's only conceded 10 goals, which is the second-fewest in the USL. Goalkeeper Matt Pickens is tied for first in the league with eight clean sheets. Brandon Allen and Lebo Moloto are tied for a team-leading five goals.

On Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati is first in the Eastern Conference and is six games unbeaten in league play. A win or draw Saturday night would be a club-record seventh unbeaten match.

This season, Cincinnati has more success away from Nippert than at home. In nine road matches, the club has six wins and two draws.

This is the first competitive meeting between Cincinnati and Nashville, although they played in a 2-2 friendly on March 3 at Gettler Stadium.

The visitors opened the scoring before Lance Laing equalized the match just before halftime. Emery Welshman gave Cincinnati a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute before a Nashville penalty in the 87th minute.

"To be brutally honest, I'm glad we didn't win," Koch said after the friendly. "If we left the pitch today winning, I think there's some people, some players, some fans or maybe some of my staff who would leave here with a false sense of confidence.

"It's exactly what we needed it to be today. That's exactly how a USL game will look like when we start playing in two weeks, and that's why we played Nashville today."

The game plan

Cincinnati trudged through a 2-0 win over Ottawa Fury FC last Saturday at Nippert. In hot conditions, the club preserved its stamina and kept the match at its preferred pace. Can it do the same in Nashville? Cincinnati leads the league in goals scored and plays a side that's second-best in goals allowed. The clash between the two should be intense and hard to predict the final outcome.